Establishing Rapport in Telehealth Encounters

Description

In today’s digital healthcare landscape, your clinical skills aren’t enough—your screen-side manner must speak volumes. A meaningful connection can be the difference between a patient returning or never logging in again. And in telehealth, where body language is cropped, eye contact is fragmented, and distractions abound, the old rules of rapport no longer apply.

Whether you’re meeting a long-time patient online or building trust with someone brand new, this course offers practical insights to transform remote encounters into authentic human connections.

Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski—an internationally recognized expert in medical decision making, human factors, and telehealth—guides this course with decades of research and leadership in the field. As a professor and Vice Chair for Research at Emory University, and a leading figure in national and global telemedicine organizations, Dr. Krupinski brings the clarity, credibility, and vision needed to help clinicians thrive in virtual care settings.

With a focus on practical strategies grounded in psychological science and clinical application, Dr. Krupinski’s approach centers on optimizing the provider-patient connection through the lens of technology, environment, and human behavior. You’ll learn to enhance the virtual presence and engagement that patients crave—without compromising professionalism or efficiency.

Topics covered include the role of eye contact in digital spaces, cultural considerations in non-verbal communication, human sensory limitations in virtual care, and environmental setup for effective virtual presence. You'll explore the dynamics of telehealth-specific workflows, managing patient expectations, and how to avoid the subtle rapport-breaking traps that can emerge in remote encounters.

Key Takeaways:

• Master technology-enhanced connection: Learn how to use digital tools to foster, not hinder, therapeutic engagement.

• Confidently prepare clients for telehealth: Set clear expectations and ease anxiety before the session even begins.

• Elevate your virtual presence: Discover how to frame and structure your sessions to boost patient trust, comfort, and participation.

Why this course?

• Guided by a thought leader: Dr. Krupinski is one of the most respected voices in telehealth and human factors research, trusted by top institutions and federal agencies.

• Backed by a mission-driven institute: Telehealth Certification Institute is committed to empowering clinicians with practical, high-quality education that advances care and confidence.

• Focused, relevant, and actionable: In just one CE hour, you’ll gain immediately usable insights that enhance every virtual session you conduct.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe technology's role in establishing rapport in telehealth encounters

• List ways to prepare patients for telehealth encounters

• Demonstrate how to frame telehealth encounters to increase patient acceptance

This course will equip you with the tools and perspective to connect more meaningfully in the telehealth environment. Elevate your virtual care skills and confidently create encounters your patients trust, value, and return to.

Add this course to your cart to begin learning instantly.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Dr. Elizabeth A. Krupinski, PhD

Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski is a professor and Vice-Chair for Research at Emory University in the Departments of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; her Master of Arts from Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey; and her Doctorate from Temple University in Philadelphia. All of her degrees are experimental psychology. Her interests are in medical image perception, observer performance, medical decision making, and human factors. Dr. Krupinski is Associate Director of Evaluation for the Arizona Telemedicine Program and Co-Director of the Southwest Telehealth Resource Center. She has published extensive research in these areas, and she has given presentations at national and international conferences. She is past chair of the SPIE Medical Imaging Conference, past president of the American Telemedicine Association, President of the Medical Image Perception Society, and past chair of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. She serves on a number of editorial boards for both radiology and telemedicine journals, and she is the co-editor of the Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare. Dr. Krupinski serves regularly as a grant reviewer for the NIH, DoD, TATRC and other federal, state, and international funding agencies, and she has served as a member of a number of FDA review panels.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours: 

This course consists of 1 continuing education hour of credit.

Counselors: 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists: 

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists: 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals: 

This course qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This is a non-interactive, self-study course.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement